Sleepy LaBeef - The Bulls Night Out '2015

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Too Much Monkey Business
02. Buying a Book
03. Back of His Hand
04. Birds of All Nations
05. Blackland Farmer
06. Me and Bobby McGee
07. Boom, Boom, Boom
08. It Aint Sanitary
09. Honey Hush
10. A Hundred Pounds of Lovin
11. Asphalt Cowboy


Sleepy LaBeef became the ultimate rockabilly survivor, his live performances
retaining the same raw power as he approached his eighth decade that they had in
the years when he was among the musics pioneers.
He was born Thomas Paulsley LaBeff in Smackover, Arkansas. The 67 singer had
heavily lidded eyes that made him appear half-asleep, hence his nickname. He was
raised on a melon farm and grew up hearing both country and blues music. LaBeef
moved to Houston at age 18, working at several odd jobs before beginning to sing
gospel music on local radio shows. Soon he was working with a band of his own at
local bars, and he appeared on the Houston Jamboree and Louisiana Hayride radio
programs. The new rockabilly style fit his blazing voice perfectly, and in the
late 50s he recorded about a dozen sides in that style for various labels. His
first single, Im Through, was released in 1957 on Starday. Sometimes he was
billed as Tommy LaBeff or Sleepy LaBeff.
LaBeef moved to Nashville in 1964 and soon was signed to Columbia. In the 1960s
he recorded mostly straight country music. His sixth single for the label, Every
Day, provided LaBeef with his chart debut in 1968, and after moving to Shelby
Singletons Plantation label in 1969, he hit the Top 20 with his version of
Blackland Farmer, Frankie Millers heartfelt ode to the soil. The late 60s also
saw the towering baritones film debut in the bizarre Southern drive-in horror
musical The Exotic Ones; LaBeef played a swamp monster.
LaBeef moved to Sun Records in the mid-70s after Singleton acquired that
original institution of rockabilly, and there he reconnected with his rockabilly
roots. Singles such as Thunder Road, There Aint Much After Taxes, and Boogie
Woogie Country Girl saw little chart action but helped form the beginnings of
the LaBeef legend as his indefatigable touring exposed audiences to his wild-man
energy. He remained more popular in Europe than in the U.S. and appeared at
Englands Wembley Festival twice. Among his U.S. fans was soul music historian
Peter Guralnick, who saw LaBeef perform in Massachusetts in 1977 and praised his
performances in a widely read article. That plus the general revival of
rockabilly around 1980 at the hands of such groups as the Stray Cats paved the
way for the emergence of Sleepy LaBeef, rockabilly revivalist.
He signed to Rounder in 1981 and released It Aint What You Eat (Its the Way How
You Chew It) in the U.S. and in Europe. The live album Nothin but the Truth gave
CD buyers a taste of the booming vocals and slashing guitar that had made LaBeef
a prime club attraction. He returned to regular recording in the mid-90s,
releasing several more albums on Rounder: Strange Things Happening (1994) and
Ill Never Lay My Guitar Down (1996) contained a variety of country and blues
tunes and revealed the depth of LaBeefs musical experiences. Four years later,
he issued Tomorrow Never Comes, which featured guest vocals from Maria Muldaur.
Compilations of the numerous unissued tracks from earlier in LaBeefs career
began to surface in the early 2000s, and by that time Sleepy was nothing less
than a rockabilly legend. After many years on the road, Sleepy LaBeefs career
finally came to an end on December 26, 2019, when he died at his home in Siloam
Springs, Arkansas; he was 84 years of age.

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